She who is my wife
by valyria
Summary: T'Pau has arranged a favourable match for Sarek - but his new posting as Vulcan Ambassador to Earth has entirely unexpected consequences. The unlikely tale of how Sarek of Vulcan ended up married to Amanda Grayson.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I lost the next chapter of Princess of Terra so I'm gonna start posting my 'normal' Sarek/Amanda fic while I try to work up the motivation to rewrite it.

This is set in the same universe as my 'Winds Against a Star' S/U series, but can most definitely be read as a stand alone.

Warnings: Unbetaed but otherwise nothing offensive. I'll be posting an MA version to Ao3 eventually.

* * *

**Sarek**

"She is an eminently agreeable match." T'Pau proclaimed, allowing her face to betray the slightest indicators of satisfaction in what was a private conversation with her youngest son.

Sarek agreed with his mother's assessment. The match she had arranged for him was far more favourable than he had expected. Few Vulcans reached majority without a bondmate and locating a suitable wife at his age was not a simple thing. He had been bonded at 7 standard years of age as per V'tosh custom, but unfortunately the female he had been bonded to - a girl named T'Dal - had succumbed to an illness in her youth. Although he had only met her once - on the occasion of their betrothal - she had been a constant, if muted, presence in the back of his mind for almost a decade by the time of her death, and he had mourned her passing as was appropriate.

His parents had expended a great deal of effort in locating a suitable replace for T'Dal, but at the onset of his first Pon'farr, he had remained unbonded. The experience had been unpleasant, but with the aid of a priestess he had survived. His second pon'farr had been less violent and intense meditation had proven successful in enduring the fires. His third and fourth had likewise proven relatively mild, but the fifth had again required assistance and had been even more disturbing than his first. It had been after that experience that he had requested his mother begin searching in earnest for a suitable wife for him. It was illogical to risk his life upon by remaining unbonded.

His mother for her part was eager for him to procreate and set to the task with enthusiasm. Here now, 6.6 years later, was the result of her efforts. Sarek regarded the PADD on the desk in front of him. The image displayed showed that the mate his mother had selected for him, T'Rea, was aesthetically pleasing. She had dark hair and eyes set in an admirably symmetrical face. Her eyebrows were particularly delicate, tapering gracefully towards her hairline.

Of course such matters of aesthetics were secondary in regards to her suitability. Not only was she was a T'Sai of the High Clans - first-daughter of a noble House - but she was also a distant kinswoman to Sarek, their families both belonging to Maat t'Surak. If this were not pleasing enough, T'Rea was an adept of Kolinar - a _reldai_ of Gol - and of similar age to himself. She was a grown woman of demonstrated logic and intelligence, not a young girl like many of the other prospective wives he had turned down. In all respects the mate his mother had located was everything a male in his position could want. The only reason such a desirable woman remained unbonded at all was due to the fact that she had lost her first bondmate in a shuttle craft accident.

"Her attributes are, indeed, very impressive." he replied to his mother. He could see no reason their match would not prove successful.

T'Pau inclined her head. Though her face was impassive, Sarek could detect her pleasure easily enough, even across 15 lightyears. It was not unjustified. The match was, as she had stated, 'eminently agreeable'. Of course this was not the only reason for his mother's satisfaction. She desired an heir of her own House to succeed her as Matriarch of their Clan. If T'Rea were to provide him with a daughter, a child descended from two of their clan's most venerated bloodlines, T'Pau would most likely get her wish. This was of little concern to Sarek, but it was his duty to see to T'Pau's wishes, both as his mother and as his pid-kom.

His computer console flashed with an indicator. "Mother, I have duties to attend to. I thank you for efforts on my behalf in this matter." He gave her the ta'al.

T'Pau returned the gesture. "Live long and prosper my son."

"Peace and long life mother." he responded in kind.

She cut the transmission promptly.

Sarek's chief attaché appeared in the doorway. "Ambassador. The shuttle is ready for departure." the younger Vulcan informed him.

"Has Junior Ambassador T'Vess been informed?" Sarek inquired as he shut off his computer console and stood.

The attaché, a capable man named Vonik, nodded as he replied. "She awaits you on-board the shuttle Ambassador."

Further conversation was unnecessary as Vonik and Sarek made their way to the rooftop and the awaiting shuttle. T'Vess nodded in polite greeting as Sarek took a seat opposite.

"Ambassador Sarek." she offered by way of greeting.

"Junior Ambassador T'Vess." he replied politely.

The journey across San Francisco took only 5.8 minutes and 3.7 of those were spent awaiting clearance to land.

The United Earth Parliament House, secondary base and assembly hall of the United Earth Cabinet after their offices in the Palais Bourbon in Paris, was a quite appealing structure, though of course, utterly alien in design and construction. It was a vast edifice of stone executed in a Terran architectural style popular for public buildings upon Earth and Earth Colonies alike. Sarek regarded it with muted interest from the shuttle windows. He had spent time previously upon Earth, but it was still somewhat novel to him.

The reception being held was one which had been held annually since the signing of the Traité d'Unification in 2130. It was a celebration of the Unification of Earth under a single governing body. Since that unification had indirectly led to the creation of the United Federation of Planets, it was considered a significant cultural event amidst the Federation and there were many representatives of member planets in attendance.

It was the first such function Sarek was attending in his new role as Ambassador to Earth, and whilst he was not in any way _fearful_, he would admit to slight apprehension. He was a representative of all of Vulcan and he wished to perform his duties to the best of his ability.

The Terran heads of state in attendance - elected presidents and prime minsters along with a few hereditary heads of ancient Kingdoms - proved intriguing to observe owing to the diversity of human culture. But the activities of the diplomats and other high ranking officials from around the Federation were rather more mundane. The guests behaved quite predictably, drinking an assortment of intoxicating beverages and attempted to find subtle ways of insulting one another. Sarek, owing to his recent appointment, found himself sought out by many wishing to 'make his acquaintance' and subject him to vapid and illogical conversation.

Junior Ambassador T'Vess undertook these interactions with admirable diplomacy. Sarek noted she appeared far more at ease in maintaining polite conversation than he himself. Not for the first time he wondered at his appointment to Ambassador ahead of her. Given her years of service in the diplomatic offices upon Earth, she appeared a more logical choice than he. He could only assume that there were additional circumstances of which he was unaware. To question the logic of the High Council in their decision was in itself, illogical. He dismissed such thoughts.

"And how are you finding San Francisco Ambassador Sarek?" inquired a human female of middle years with Asiatic features in an exceedingly… vivid… and .. _tight_ red garment. Although she bore little to the holograph in the files he had reviewed upon his assignment to Earth, he was able to identify her as the wife of the President of the United States of America. The 'First Lady'.

Her inquiry however was mystifying. "I had no difficulty in locating the city." he replied.

The woman blinked and frowned slightly. "Ah." she responded in an exceedingly vague vocalisation.

Before she could provide further confusion a human male appeared at her side. "There you are darling!" he exclaimed to the woman. Sarek identified him as the woman's husband, the President of the United States of America. The human took his wife's arm and turned to greet Sarek with a ta'al.

"Dif-tor heh smusma Osasu Sarek." he said in a reasonable approximation of Vuhlkansu. For a human. Sarek raised an eyebrow.

"Sochya eh dif Mr President." he replied in kind.

The human smiled again. "Are you finding your new duties satisfactory?" he inquired.

"I am." Sarek returned.

"I suppose you must have a lot on your plate, always stressful, a new position." the President continued. "Adding to that moving - to a different planet at that - and well, you must be swamped!"

Swamped. To overwhelm or flood with water. Sarek attempted to understand the man's words. He was not holding a plate. He was not immersed in water.

The President looked as if he were about to make further inquiry but was interrupted by the arrival of two more attendees. Sarek easily identified the woman as Prime Minister Beatrix of the Scandinavian Republic. She had very distinctive hair. On her arm was an Andorian male in the dress uniform of a Starfleet Rear Admiral.

"Don't hog the new Vulcan Ambassador Mr President." the Prime Minster said as she inserted herself into their conversational grouping. Hog. A terran mammal of the genus _Sus._ Domesticated and bred as a source of protein. In vain Sarek searched his vocabulary of Standard English seeking a more comprehensible meaning for the word.

The woman made a very slow and thorough visual inspection of his person. "I'm Prime Minister Beatrix," she said in slightly accented standard. "- and this is my charming companion for the evening, Admiral Shrass."

"I am Sarek of Vulcan." he offered.

"You've got some big shoes to fill Ambassador." she said.

Again, her words were incomprehensible. His shoes were big? Someone else's? What would he be filling them with?

"Ambassador T'Lau was a silver-tongued snake charmer." the Prime Minster said smiling widely. "She had the Parliament eating out her hand, Upper and Lower Houses alike."

Clearly something was being mis-translated. Sarek was certain that his grasp of Standard was perfectly fluent, he had made thorough study of the language under the tutelage of some of Vulcan's finest scholars, and previously in conversation with human diplomats he had encountered little difficult. However - Okosu T'Lau did not have a silver tongue, he imagined such an unusual physical trait would be widely reported, nor was she a 'snake charmer', which was from his understanding a type of Terran entertainer who played a wind instrument to encourage rhythmic movement from a serpent. As to her other statement, no V'Tosh would eat without proper utensils and to permit another, a member of the United Earth Parliament or any being for that matter, to eat directly from her hand would be grotesque.

"I fear I have misinterpreted you Prime Minister, do you mean to imply that former Ambassador T'Lau offered sustenance to Ministers of the United Earth Parliament from her hand?" he asked.

The woman laughed brightly. Sarek's confusion grew. After a moment the other humans and the Andorian Admiral joined her. Sarek observed them in discomfort. Being surrounded by such emotional vocal outbursts made him distinctly aware of the fact that he was far from Vulcan and in the midst of aliens.

"Oh you'll have to watch this one John," Prime Minister Beatrix said to the American President, "he's right on the ball!"

It was as if they were speaking another language. The human diplomats he'd previously interacted with had not spoken in such an odd manner. Sarek looked to Vonik. The younger Vulcan seemed to understand his confusion.

"Pardon me," he said, his voice taking on a tone Sarek had not heard from him previously as he addressed the humans, "there is a matter I must briefly discuss with the Ambassador."

The group all voiced their understanding and Sarek and Vonik stepped aside.

"_You find their phrasing illogical and their meaning irrational?"_ Vonik inquired in Vuhlkansu, his voice even and cool once more.

_"That is correct. It would appear my fluency in Standard is not what I had previously assessed it to be."_ Sarek admitted. _"Much of my vocabulary appears to be inaccurate."_

Vonik tilted his head slightly._ "I do not think that the case Ambassador. I believe your literal fluency to be acceptable, but a great deal of human verbal interaction makes use of strange metaphor and sayings which make no reasonable sense."_

_"That seems a plausible explaination."_ Sarek agreed.

_"Former Ambassador T'Lau employed a tutor in 'conversational English' upon her arrival on Earth. Locating such a teacher for yourself would perhaps be a prudent decision."_ Vonik suggested.

Sarek had not thought such a thing necessary, but given his experiences of the evening, he saw the logic to his attaché's recommendation. _"I agree with your assessment."_

Vonik nodded and continued in standard. "I will locate a suitable individual with all haste Ambassador."


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thanks for the reviews guys! And fear not, I've started re-writing the lost part of Princess of Angst, so that will be updated next.

* * *

**Amanda**

"Look, I understand, but I really can't fit that sort of one-on-one tutoring into my current workload."

Amanda glanced up at Professor Davies. The poor man had been trying to shake of a very persistent caller for the better part of ten minutes. She wondered idly who'd be daft enough to attempt to get one-on-one tutoring from the Head of the Linguists department at the University of California. Whilst there were more prestigious American Universities, it was one of the oldest and most respected. The Department Heads weren't in the habit of tutoring struggling students. Most likely some freshman's wealthy parents hadn't figured that out yet.

"That was over a decade ago," the professor said. "- my schedule is quite different now." He rolled his eyes and mouthed _'Vulcan'_ at her as he made a circular 'hurry it up' motion with his hand.

Amanda smiled to let him know she didn't mind waiting. She could hear the vague mumble of a male voice through Davies' comm. After a moment he frowned and looked up at her thoughtfully. Amanda raised an eyebrow in query.

"Hang on a moment, I might have a solution. I'm just going to put you on hold for a minute." He pursed his lips. "Not _exactly_ one minute, but approximately that long, _yes."_ He pulled his earpiece out and pressed a button.

"Amanda." he said in a speculative tone of voice, eyeing her intently.

"Yes?" she replied bemusedly, wondering what he was plotting.

Davies leant back in his chair and swiped a hand across his short beard in thought. "I've got an opportunity here you might be interested in." he said.

"I'm all ears." Amanda replied evenly.

"How does providing one-on-one tutoring to a Vulcan sound to you?"

"Interesting, but I'm pretty busy with my research paper. You know I need something to help me stand out to the Board if I want them to consider me for the Xenolinguists Head's position." she responded.

"Teaching the Vulcan Ambassador to Earth 'Conversational English' might be just the something you need." Davies remarked.

"The Ambassador?" Amanda asked in confusion. She didn't follow Federation politics all that closely, but she was familiar with the dignified woman who represented Vulcan upon Earth. She'd been Ambassador for years, since Amanda was a child. "T'Lau's English is perfect. She certainly doesn't need a tutor."

"T'Lau's been promoted to_ Federation_ Ambassador to Vulcan. Her replacement is the one you'd be teaching." Davies explained.

Amanda thought about it. One-on-one tutoring was something she'd done a lot of when she was student and trying to earn her keep. She'd quite enjoyed it. The quick results intensive tutoring gave were almost as satisfying from the teacher's perspective as the student's. She tried rapidly to think of downsides. Her personal time she supposed, but she was hardly focused on her personal life at the moment anyway. And Davies was right - it would look _amazing_ on her CV. The University Board would lap it right up.

"Tick Tock Amanda." the Professor said, fiddling with his comm piece.

"Okay. If I can fit tutoring around my classes, I'll do it." she decided. If wasn't like she couldn't back out if it didn't go to plan.

Davies smiled. "I think this could prove quite insightful for you Amanda. You'll have an excuse to pick a Vulcan S'haile's head. That Xenolinguist position will be yours for the taking."

"_S'haile?"_ Amanda asked in shock.

James didn't reply, he'd turned his comm back on, instead he held up a hand to silence her. "Okay Vonik, one of my teachers, Miss Grayson, has agreed to consider such a position."

"_Yes _she's qualified. She's got very similar qualifications as I did when I taught T'Lau." Another pause. "She speaks Vuhlkansu with good fluency for a human. Better than I did at her age."

Davies massaged his left temple as the other voice spoke once more.

"How about I just send you her CV and you can contact her and make arrangements if she's suitable?" he said after a long pause.

More tinny rumbling.

"Very good. I'll do that now. Always a pleasure to talk to you Vorik. Good bye."

Davies snapped off the comm decisively. "And _that's_ why I changed my doctorate. _Vulcans._ Even the nice ones are a pain in the arse."

"Language Davies." Amanda chided him. "The Professor of Linguistics shouldn't say such things."

He snorted crudely then turned his attention to his computer console. "Okay I'll just use your most recent CV. Do you need to update it first?"

"No, it's still accurate." Amanda replied.

Davies nodded.

"So, this Ambassador, he's a _S'haile_?" she asked curiously as her boss tapped at his console.

"Apparently." he drawled. "Vonik let slip when he figured out I wasn't suddenly going to say yes. Probably thought it'd convince me." He snorted. "_Hardly._ A S'haile's going to be even more frustrating to teach 'illogical human speech patterns' to than Lady T'Lau was." He looked up at her smirking slightly. "Good luck Amanda."

* * *

It wasn't as bad as Amanda had assumed it would be from Professor Davies' comments, though it was hardly a _fun _afternoon.

For starters she had to come to _his_ office. He was _much_ too busy and important to come to _hers _or meet her at a learning facility. She could have forgiven that, he was a high ranking diplomat and no doubt very busy, but she'd waited 42 minutes and that was rude, no matter how busy and important the Ambassador might be. Every second waiting had dragged. The lobby was kept so warm she was convinced they must be running the heating system in the middle of summer. By the time she was ushered into the Ambassador's office, she felt like she'd just gone for a jog. Her blouse was sticking to her back with sweat and her hair was a damp mess. She didn't even want to know what her makeup looked like. Melting off her face in a panda-eyed mess most likely.

Still. She wasn't looking to impress the Ambassador with her looks. She wanted to impress him with her skills as a linguist so she'd have an impressive blurb on her CV when she went before the Board. Successfully tutoring the Vulcan Ambassador to Earth in English would look _fantastic._

She'd looked him up of course. Partly out of nosiness and partly out of professional good sense. There wasn't much available, there never was where Vulcans were concerned. She knew his name was 'Sarek', that he was from Shi'Kahr in the Na'aam Province and that he was born in 2165 making him 63 in standard reckoning. There were no other personal details, but a thorough overview of his career was available for perusal. It appeared he'd been a diplomat dating back to at least 2185 and had been previously posted to Earth under T'Lau's predecessor Selden – but apart from that she was in the dark.

The first thing she noticed about Ambassador Sarek was that he was much younger looking than she'd expecting. Foolish of her, since she was well aware that 63 to a Vulcan was more like… 30 to a human. Prime years rather than middle age. Otherwise he was precisely as she expected. Tall, stiff and very _Vulcan._

"Miss Grayson." he intoned blandly in a deep voice. He rose politely to receive her, but otherwise his body language was cool and unwelcoming.

"Ambassador." she replied, lifting a hand into the ta'al and offering him a much more polite greeting. "Dif-tor heh smusma."

He responded in kind, deigning to speak in standard in what she took as an attempt of friendliness or the return of her politeness at least. "Peace and Long life."

"Was I mis-informed as to the time of our appointment?" she inquired not quite succeeding to keep the censure from her voice.

"As I am unaware of the precise details provided to you by my assistant I cannot verify that." he replied in a smooth monotone.

Amanda blinked. He was clearly fluent, he spoke in a perfectly clear nondescript accent somewhere between Terran English and American, but he obviously hadn't spent a great deal of time with humans. "You really _are _in need of a tutor." she remarked playfully.

His head tilted to one side at her comment. "Please clarify."

Amanda smiled, her irritation at being kept waiting fading. Clearly the poor man was entirely clueless.

She crossed the room to stand near a seat opposite his desk. "May I?" she inquired.

"May you… what?" Ambassador Sarek asked slowly, a very mild expression of confusion flitting across his face. It was quite a nice face actually. Handsome in a severe Vulcan way that was intriguing... The expression on his face however... It was difficult but she managed not to laugh. Wow. He spoke English perfectly, but it was obvious from thirty seconds in his company he had no idea what do to with all those crisp clean consonants of his in real conversation.

"May I take a seat?" she elaborated, managing to keep her voice even.

"Where... do you wish to take it?" he asked.

Amanda looked up at him, he was almost frowning, those Vulcan eyebrows of his deeply furrowed. She couldn't help it, a smile stretched her face. He thought she was going to _take _his chair. She could imagine what he was thinking. Something about how illogical and weird humans were no doubt.

She cleared her throat. "Your previous interaction with humans, I assume it's been purely in the midst of diplomatic talks?"

"That is correct." the Ambassador returned warily. He glanced to the chair she rested her hand upon. Amanda bit her lip. Maybe he thought she'd pick it up and abscond with it?

"When you lived on Earth you didn't, ah, mingle?"

"There was no need. My housing and needs were provided for at the Embassy." he said, finally looking up from the chair.

"Well, for future reference Ambassador, I appreciate that you have duties that might cause delay, but I have classes to teach at the University so if you will be detained longer than ten minutes past the agreed upon meeting time, please have one of your assistants reschedule with me."

"You were waiting for 43.8 minutes." he remarked.

"Yes." she agreed. "I will only be able to stay until 2.30. I have a class at 3." Without waiting for a response she placed her handbag on the floor near the chair she stood behind. "Now, I think I'll start by clarifying our own interaction. The sub context was clearly confusing to you."

"Very well." he agreed, his hands clasped behind his back

"When I said 'May I?' and made," she indicated the chair, "- this gesture, what I was asking was 'May I sit down on this chair?''

"Why not simply vocalise the question ?" the Vulcan inquired.

Amanda shrugged then belatedly realised he might not entirely understand that gesture either. "Because to a human that is unnecessary."

He made no comment and stood awaiting further explanation, an expression of mild interest on his face.

"To a human the gesture of my arm combined with eye contact has already indicated my intention to sit. The verbalisation is mere confirmation and politeness. Only the 'May I?' is necessary as the 'sit on this chair.' is implicit."

"I have observed that much of the communication between humans is non-verbal." the Ambassador agreed thoughtfully. "Tutelage under a native speaker could prove most useful."

"I'm certain it will improve your interactions with humans Ambassador." Amanda assured him. She repeated the gesture and gave him a smile. "May I?"

He inclined his head. "You may." he replied slightly awkwardly.

Amanda sat down. Ambassador Sarek, who had been standing during their exchange, mirrored the movement.

"Now, when I said _'take_ a seat'- "

"You were not, in fact, inferring a desire to relocate it?" the Ambassador guessed.


End file.
